Igal Roodenko
Encyclopedia
Igal Roodenko was a Jewish US civil rights
activist, and pacifist.
in Manhattan, New York. He attended Cornell University
from 1934 to 1938, where he received a degree in horticulture. Roodenko was a gay man, and a printer by trade.
He was an active member of the War Resisters League
(WRL), and was a conscientious objector
to military service in World War II
. Roodenko was on the executive committee of the WRL from 1947 to 1977, and was the league's chairman from 1968 to 1972. Early in the war, he was sent to a camp in Montezuma County, Colorado
to perform Civilian Public Service
in lieu of military service. Roodenko's principles led him to refuse to work, which in turn led to his arrest, conviction, and imprisonment at the Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone
. He sued the United States government, challenging the constitutionality of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940
. On 22 December 1944, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
found against Roodenko, and the United States Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari on 26 March 1945. He and conscientious objectors in six other federal prisons began a hunger strike on 11 May 1946 to draw attention to the plight of war resistors. Roodenko was not released from prison until January 1947.
Roodenko was an early member of the Committee for Nonviolent Revolution
, a pacifist group founded in New York City
in 1946. Other prominent members included Ralph DiGia
, Dave Dellinger, George Houser
, and Bayard Rustin
. After his release from prison, Roodenko lived in a tenement
at 215 Mott Street
on the Lower East Side
of New York. Rustin rented an apartment one floor below Roodenko, and this proximity, along with the exceptional number of young radicals living on Mott Street and on nearby Mulberry Street
and elsewhere in the neighborhood, enabled Roodenko's continuing activism.
In 1947 he was arrested with Rustin and a number of other protestors during the Journey of Reconciliation
for deliberately violating a North Carolina
law
requiring segregated
seating on public transportation. At their trial, Rustin and Roodenko were both convicted. Rustin was sentenced to 30 days on a North Carolina chain gang
. The judge said to Roodenko, "Now, Mr. Rodenky (sic), I presume you're Jewish." "Yes, I am," Roodenko replied. "Well, it's about time you Jews from New York
learned that you can't come down bringing your nigras with you to upset the customs of the South
. Just to teach you a lesson," the judge sentenced him to 90 days on a chain gang - three times the length of Rustin's sentence.
Roodenko was arrested numerous other times throughout his life: in 1962 for leading a peace rally in Times Square
(his sentence was suspended, as the judge was sympathetic with the aims of the protestors). At other times for protesting against mistreatment of Soviet dissidents
, against Cornell University
's investments in South Africa
, and, in Poland
in 1987, along with four other members of the WRL, for trying to strengthen organizational connections with Polish dissidents. At the time of his death, Roodenko was a member of Men of all Colors Together.
In 1983, discussing the difficulties of political activism with a reporter from the New York Times, Roodenko memorably stated that "if it were easy, any schmo could be a pacifist." Roodenko died on 28 April 1991 in Beekman Downtown Hospital in New York of a heart attack.
Peace Award
in 1979.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activist, and pacifist.
Biography
Roodenko graduated from Townsend Harris High SchoolTownsend Harris High School
Townsend Harris High School is a public magnet high school for the humanities in the borough of Queens in New York City. Students and alumni often refer to themselves as "Harrisites." Townsend Harris consistently ranks as among the top 100 High Schools in the United States. It currently operates as...
in Manhattan, New York. He attended Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
from 1934 to 1938, where he received a degree in horticulture. Roodenko was a gay man, and a printer by trade.
He was an active member of the War Resisters League
War Resisters League
The War Resisters League was formed in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I. It is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International.Many of the founders had been jailed during World War I for refusing military service...
(WRL), and was a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
to military service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Roodenko was on the executive committee of the WRL from 1947 to 1977, and was the league's chairman from 1968 to 1972. Early in the war, he was sent to a camp in Montezuma County, Colorado
Montezuma County, Colorado
Montezuma County is the southwesternmost of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 23,830 at U.S. Census 2000...
to perform Civilian Public Service
Civilian Public Service
The Civilian Public Service provided conscientious objectors in the United States an alternative to military service during World War II...
in lieu of military service. Roodenko's principles led him to refuse to work, which in turn led to his arrest, conviction, and imprisonment at the Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone
Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone
The Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, Minnesota, is a low security prison for male offenders.FCI Sandstone is situated about 100 miles northeast of Minneapolis/St...
. He sued the United States government, challenging the constitutionality of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940
Selective Training and Service Act of 1940
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act, was passed by the Congress of the United States on September 17, 1940, becoming the first peacetime conscription in United States history when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law two days later...
. On 22 December 1944, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Colorado* District of Kansas...
found against Roodenko, and the United States Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari on 26 March 1945. He and conscientious objectors in six other federal prisons began a hunger strike on 11 May 1946 to draw attention to the plight of war resistors. Roodenko was not released from prison until January 1947.
Roodenko was an early member of the Committee for Nonviolent Revolution
Committee for Nonviolent Revolution
The Committee for Nonviolent Revolution, or CNRV, was a pacifist organization founded in Chicago at a conference held from February 6 through 9, 1946. Many of the founding members were conscientious objectors who had served time in prison or in Civilian Public Service camps due to their refusal to...
, a pacifist group founded in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1946. Other prominent members included Ralph DiGia
Ralph DiGia
Ralph DiGia was a World War II conscientious objector, lifelong pacifist and social justice activist, and staffer for 52 years at the War Resisters League....
, Dave Dellinger, George Houser
George Houser
George M. Houser is a Methodist minister, civil rights activist, and activist for the independence of African nations. He served on the staff of the Fellowship of Reconciliation . With James Farmer, and Bernice Fisher, he co-founded the Congress of Racial Equality in 1942 in Chicago...
, and Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
. After his release from prison, Roodenko lived in a tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
at 215 Mott Street
Mott Street
Mott Street is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north-south direction in the borough of Manhattan in New York City in the United States. It is best known as Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Street runs from Chatham Square in the south to Bleecker Street in the north...
on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of New York. Rustin rented an apartment one floor below Roodenko, and this proximity, along with the exceptional number of young radicals living on Mott Street and on nearby Mulberry Street
Mulberry Street (Manhattan)
Mulberry Street is a principal thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York. The street was listed on maps of the area since at least 1755. The "Bend" in Mulberry in which the street changes direction from southwest to northeast to a northerly direction was to avoid the wetlands surrounding the Collect Pond...
and elsewhere in the neighborhood, enabled Roodenko's continuing activism.
In 1947 he was arrested with Rustin and a number of other protestors during the Journey of Reconciliation
Journey of Reconciliation
The Journey of Reconciliation was a form of non-violent direct action to challenge segregation laws on interstate buses in the Southern United States....
for deliberately violating a North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
requiring segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
seating on public transportation. At their trial, Rustin and Roodenko were both convicted. Rustin was sentenced to 30 days on a North Carolina chain gang
Chain gang
A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work, such as mining or timber collecting, as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include building roads, digging ditches or chipping stone...
. The judge said to Roodenko, "Now, Mr. Rodenky (sic), I presume you're Jewish." "Yes, I am," Roodenko replied. "Well, it's about time you Jews from New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
learned that you can't come down bringing your nigras with you to upset the customs of the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. Just to teach you a lesson," the judge sentenced him to 90 days on a chain gang - three times the length of Rustin's sentence.
Roodenko was arrested numerous other times throughout his life: in 1962 for leading a peace rally in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
(his sentence was suspended, as the judge was sympathetic with the aims of the protestors). At other times for protesting against mistreatment of Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents were citizens of the Soviet Union who disagreed with the policies and actions of their government and actively protested against these actions through either violent or non-violent means...
, against Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
's investments in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and, in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in 1987, along with four other members of the WRL, for trying to strengthen organizational connections with Polish dissidents. At the time of his death, Roodenko was a member of Men of all Colors Together.
In 1983, discussing the difficulties of political activism with a reporter from the New York Times, Roodenko memorably stated that "if it were easy, any schmo could be a pacifist." Roodenko died on 28 April 1991 in Beekman Downtown Hospital in New York of a heart attack.
Awards
Roodenko was awarded the War Resisters LeagueWar Resisters League
The War Resisters League was formed in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I. It is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International.Many of the founders had been jailed during World War I for refusing military service...
Peace Award
War Resisters League Peace Award
Since 1958, the "War Resisters League", the pacifist group founded in 1923, has awarded almost annually its War Resisters League Peace Award to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of Gandhian action....
in 1979.
Further reading
- "Igal Roodenko Papers, 1935-1991", Document Group: DG 161, Swarthmore College Peace Collection. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
- Oral History Interview with Igal Roodenko at Oral Histories of the American South